


Tea Party

by ProlixEllipsis



Series: Teatime [2]
Category: Ouran High School Host Club - All Media Types
Genre: Adoption, Alternate Universe - Age Changes, Alternate Universe - Always a Different Sex, Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, F/M, Fertility Issues
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-24
Updated: 2018-02-23
Packaged: 2019-03-23 04:42:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13779951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ProlixEllipsis/pseuds/ProlixEllipsis
Summary: The Suoh family is seeking to expand.  Precisely what that means depends on who you ask.  After all, there are as many definitions of family as there are ways to grow them.





	Tea Party

“May I have a baby brother?” Haruhi said, just after the last maid had swept from the room, dessert dishes in hand.  She was the portrait of innocence, eyes wide and earnest but not whining, hands folded neatly in her lap and spine held straight against the back of her chair.  Tamaki blushed cherry-red at the implications all the same, even as he gushed over Haruhi’s “adorable obliviousness” to those same implications.

“Oui!  Oui!  Papa’s beloved daughter can have whatev–” and before Tamaki could bandy about idiotic promises, Kyouka cut to the heart of the issue.

“And why, exactly, do you want a sibling, Haruhi?”

Across the table, Haruhi shifted the focus of doe-like brown eyes from her father to her mother, and Kyouka duly noted that that gaze was truly one of her daughter’s greatest assets, falling just short of her tremendous intellect and steely will.  The five-year-old’s eyes glinted with familiar determination as she carefully considered her answer.  Kyouka waited patiently, Tamaki far less so, squirming in his seat and just barely restraining himself from leaping across the table and snatching Haruhi up into a yet another of his inescapable hugs (honestly, the man was like a walking gravity well).

It was an improvement over the week before, at least, when the Haruhi-hug had come mid-meal and made quite a mess of Tamaki’s fifth-best semi-formal waistcoat.

“Nekozawa has a new baby sister,” Haruhi finally announced, as if this might be news to them.  Perhaps she thought it was.  However, Kyouka had a small cadre of informants dedicated exclusively to constant updates on Haruhi’s acquaintances, staffed by only the most intuitive and diligent of Suoh employees both on and off the official payroll.  She knew about the Nekozawa girl long before the little heir had first heard from his parents.

Kyouka adjusted her glasses, about to counter the simplistic argument – if X has it, why can’t I? – when Haruhi took a deep breath and continued.

“As a set, they look strange,” she said.  “He wears dark hoods, and cowls, and hisses when the drapes aren’t closed tight enough and sunlight peeks in while we’re playing with his cat friend…but Kirimi’s nursery is bright and yellow and she laughs almost all the time, even more than she cries.  We have to be quiet during playdates, and Kirimi sleeps a lot, and she usually cries when Nekozawa peeks into her crib, but even so…”  Haruhi paused then, head tilting _just so_ in thought.  Tamaki was practically vibrating with glee at this point and Kyouka resigned herself to convincing him that their five-year-old was not, in fact, ready for the responsibility of a pony just yet (having given up on the argument that Haruhi might not want a pony at all).

Haruhi nodded to herself, having arrived at some internal conclusion, one tiny fist coming to rest gently in its opposite palm (a persistent tell that she would do well to drop or shift into a gesture more assertive than expressive).  “He looks less lonely now,” she finished with a small smile that quickly turned to blank exasperation as Tamaki finally rocketed over the table to envelop her in yet another of his customary overzealous embraces.

Kyouka had more than enough restraint to stay in her own seat, but she considered Haruhi’s words.  They were rather articulate for a five-year-old, and Kyouka felt a spike of something caught between pride, satisfaction, and regret. She knew that between both her own and Tamaki’s busy schedules, there were sometimes fewer opportunities than either would prefer, at the end of the day, to actually _interact_ with Haruhi.  Even detailed daily reports on her activities and wellbeing – _yes_ , Haruhi was receiving her private nutritionist-recommended daily dose of vitamin B8 at snack time and, _yes_ , Haruhi was excelling in her tutoring sessions in Chinese, etiquette, and chess, though she showed no particular talent with either the piano and there was room for improvement in go – were not as reassuring as personal evaluations.

As Kyouka glanced up at her husband and daughter, Tamaki now gleefully promising Haruhi the moon and stars if she would just, “Say something cute again for Daddy!” while Haruhi vainly attempted to wriggle her way out of her father’s arms, it occurred to her that Haruhi might have ulterior motives in her sudden desire for a sibling.

At that thought, the foreign edges of guilt receded slightly, and even in the face of the impossibility of the request, Kyouka found herself wanting to grant it.  Despite the drastic disparity between Haruhi’s upbringing and her own, she supposed that it must be difficult in more ways than one to be an only child.

**Author's Note:**

> I’ve had this chapter done for ages but I haven’t been satisfied with it. I’m still not satisfied with it, but I thought I should finally post it.
> 
> I don’t anticipate earning that T rating, but it’s there just in case.
> 
> I'll probably add tags when I learn to tag better/as they become relevant. Sorry they're so spare.


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